The present invention relates to improvements in apparatus for the manufacture and/or processing of rod-shaped smokers' products including filter rod sections and plain or filter-tipped cigarettes, cigarillos or cigars. More particularly, the invention relates to improvements in means for transporting rod-shaped articles of the tobacco industry in, to or from a discrete consuming or processing machine (e.g., a packing machine for cigarettes) or for transporting cigarettes or the like in a production line including one or more makers (e.g., machines for the making of plain or filter-tipped cigarettes) and one or more consumers (such as filter cigarette making machines or packing machines). Still more particularly, the invention relates to improvements in apparatus which can be used for simultaneous transport of one or more layers of parallel cigarettes or analogous rod-shaped articles, preferably in such a way that the articles travel sideways.
It is already known to coat conveyors for cigarettes with layers of foam rubber or similar continuous bodies of deformable material. The deformable layers are intended to reduce the likelihood of deformation of cigarettes, especially during transport from a first level to a higher or lower second level. Such conveyors have met with limited success because the useful life of foam rubber layers is relatively short, because of premature aging, because the layers are likely to be contaminated and/or to accumulate excessive quantities of moisture, and because the layers tend to peel off their supports. Moreover, such conveyors are not suited for the transport of blocks or streams which consist of several layers of cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos or filter rod sections.